SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
A trip to North Carolina, an appearance in Stanford's College Basketball Experience Classic and a home game against UNLV, highlight UC Santa Barbara's 2007-08 men's basketball schedule, which will include 14 home games, head coach Bob Williams announced Tuesday.

The Gauchos will make their second trip in three years to Chapel Hill, N.C., on Dec. 22, 2007, to take on a Tar Heel team that should enter the season ranked among the top-5 nationally. UCSB also played at UNC during the 2005-06 season. The Gauchos will open the regular season at Stanford's CBE Classic on Nov. 9-11. In addition to the host Cardinal, they will play games against Harvard and Northwestern State in the tourney. On Nov. 27, Santa Barbara will host UNLV, a former Big West rival and a program that advanced to the Sweet 16 in last year's NCAA Tournament. Last season, UCSB defeated the Runnin' Rebels in Las Vegas. The appearance will be UNLV's first at the Thunderdome since it left the Big West to join the Western Athletic Conference following the 1995-96 season.

"I am really excited about our non-conference schedule," Williams said. "Opening the season with three games in three days at Stanford will be a huge test right off the bat and having UNLV play in the Thunderdome for the first time in a long time will be great. As for the trip to North Carolina, that's one the players will remember and it gives us the opportunity to play one of the great programs in college basketball. Overall, I think this is a very good schedule."

Following the three games at Stanford to open the season, UCSB will return home for four in a row. The Gauchos play their first regular season home game on Nov. 15 when they host Cal Poly Pomona, a Division II program. On Nov. 20, San Francisco will visit Santa Barbara and on Nov. 24, Montana State plays at the Thunderdome. The homestand wraps-up with the UNLV game on Nov. 27.

Santa Barbara will travel to Loyola Marymount on Dec. 1, before returning home for games against Pepperdine on Dec. 5 and Utah Valley State on Dec. 7. The next game on the schedule is a Dec. 19 encounter at Ball State. On Dec. 22, UCSB will head to Tobacco Road to play at UNC. The non-conference schedule will end on Dec. 29 with a trip to Eastern Washington, the Gauchos' opponent in last year's Bracket Buster game.

The Big West Conference schedule will open at home on Jan. 3 when UCSB hosts the defending league champion, Long Beach State. The Gauchos will end the season on a brutal note as they play six of their final seven games on the road, including a Feb. 23 Bracket Buster match-up against an opponent to be determined.